A tragic childhood under the shadow of a stepfather, a desolate love that could never be, a clown-masked man in a late-night alley, the crisp moonlight, and the cold blade.
Oh, and the waiter...
"Captain Wang, this is the information about Fu Ju that Zichen asked us to retrieve. I thought you'd need it, so I brought it to you." After saying this, the police officer placed the information in front of Wang Shen, greeted him, and left Wang Shen's office.
After exchanging a glance, Wang Shen picked up the file folder on the table and opened it. The first sheet inside was Fu Ju's personal information form. Wang Shen's gaze fell on the form, and he carefully examined the information.
Wang Shen looked at it for a while, then handed the information sheet to Liang Zichen. "There really is a connection between the three of them," Wang Shen said as he handed the paper to Liang Zichen.
Liang Zichen glanced at Wang Shen with a puzzled look, then took the personal information form from Wang Shen's hand. Liang Zichen also carefully examined the form. After a while, Liang Zichen's expression also turned somewhat surprised, then returned to calm, and he softly said, "Caring for the orphanage."
Wang Shen took the file from Liang Zichen and said, "These three people are all related to the orphanage. And based on the current investigation, Han Lin and Zhao Zimo's child should be raised by this woman named Fu Ju."
“That’s right, that should be the case. And Fu Ju’s file says she’s the director of the orphanage. Judging from her birth date, Fu Ju is exactly seventy years old this year,” Liang Zichen added after listening to Wang Shen’s words.
“If we find Fu Ju now, we should be able to find Han Lin’s child. Fu Ju was the director of an orphanage, and judging from their ages, Han Lin and Zhao Zimo must have been cared for by Fu Ju since they were little. That’s why Han Lin is so comfortable entrusting his child to her care. Look here, Fu Ju’s address is listed.” Wang Shen pointed to the address on the file and said.
Liang Zichen glanced at it and then asked, "The sooner the better, why don't we go to Fu Ju's house now?"
Wang Shen glanced at Liang Zichen, then nodded. Fu Ju's home was near the city center, so Wang Shen's car arrived at the residential complex where Fu Ju lived in a short time. This complex wasn't newly built, so it looked a bit old, but the property management was still quite standardized. Wang Shen explained his purpose to the security guard, took a parking card, and parked his car in the complex's underground garage.
Following the address marked on the file, Wang Shen found the apartment building where Fu Ju lived. Fu Ju lived on the third floor; there was no elevator. Wang Shen and Liang Zichen were standing at Fu Ju's door shortly afterward. Liang Zichen pressed the doorbell. The doorbell rang once, but there was no response.
Liang Zichen glanced at his watch, then looked at Wang Shen with a puzzled expression. "It's a little past six o'clock, haven't they gotten off work yet?"
“How could that be? A seventy-year-old would have retired long ago. Unless he had other business to attend to.” Wang Shen denied Liang Zichen’s guess while pressing the doorbell again.
There were people inside. After Wang Shen rang the doorbell a second time, Wang Shen and Liang Zichen clearly heard footsteps inside. A moment later, the door opened.
Wang Shen and Liang Zichen were startled, looking at the man standing in front of them with puzzled expressions. The man was around forty years old, dressed casually, and wearing sandals.
At first, Wang Shen and Liang Zichen stood face to face with the man before them, both eyeing him with curiosity, neither speaking. Wang Shen's mind raced, trying to discern the relationship between this man and Fu Ju. Son? Relative? According to Fu Ju's file, she had a failed marriage, but ended it long ago when she was young. Moreover, Fu Ju had no children and lived alone.
While Wang Shen and Liang Zichen were still silent, the man in front of them frowned slightly and spoke first: "Who are you looking for?"
Liang Zichen was the first to regain his senses and answered directly, "We're looking for the owner of this house. Who are you? What are you doing here?" Liang Zichen asked this to see if the ownership of the house had changed.
"I've been renting this place for two years, and I've never heard of any chrysanthemums." The man in front of him glanced at Liang Zichen, his eyes not particularly friendly, and his tone became rather aggressive.
At this moment, Wang Shen smiled at the man in front of him and said, "Buddy, we don't mean anything by it. We just need to register the homeowners' information for the census." After saying this, Wang Shen took out his police ID from his pocket.
The man stared at Wang Shen's police ID for a while, then looked up at Wang Shen and Liang Zichen, his expression slightly surprised. Finally, the man's demeanor and tone returned to calm.
"Are we getting into trouble with the police for a census now?" the man chuckled. Then, looking at Wang Shen, he said, "My whole family is renting here, but we rented the place through an agency, and we still don't know who the owner is." As he spoke, he turned slightly to let Wang Shen peek into the room. Wang Shen saw a woman watching cartoons with a child. This must be the wife and child the man was referring to.
After listening to the man's words, Wang Shen nodded and then asked, "How long have you been renting here?"
After listening to Wang Shen's question, the man thought for a moment and then replied, "It's been almost two years."
Hearing this timeline, Wang Shen and Liang Zichen were slightly surprised. Two years? That meant Fu Ju had moved away at least two years ago. Wang Shen had reviewed Fu Ju's records and found no other properties under her name. Now it seemed Wang Shen could only try to find clues about Fu Ju's other residence.
The man before him could offer no more useful information, so Wang Shen could only smile at him before turning to leave. As Wang Shen walked downstairs, Liang Zichen followed behind him and asked, "Captain Wang, what do we do now?"
“What else can we do? We have to find out where Fu Ju lives. There are many questions I need her to answer.” Wang Shen didn’t stop walking, answering Liang Zichen’s questions as he hurried downstairs.
"But what can we do to find Fu Ju now? If we search blindly without any clues, even if we find her, it will take a lot of time." Liang Zichen frowned worriedly after hearing Wang Shen's words.
"We're not entirely without clues," Wang Shen said with a smile. "We can now roughly confirm that Fu Ju is helping to take care of Han Lin's child. And both Fu Ju and the child need a place to live. Since they didn't choose to live here, they must be somewhere else. We just need to check if Han Lin has any other properties under his name. If not, renting a house requires real-name registration, so we can check if Han Lin has any rental records. Hopefully, we can find some clues." Wang Shen's tone became hesitant at the end.